Sogang News

Professors Kwanwoo Shin and Oh-sun Kwon and Their Team Developed a Paper-Based Digital Microfluidic Chip for Disease Diagnosis

Writer

sogpr

Date

2017-05-04

Views

416

- To Diagnose Diabetes and Nephritis Using a Printer at Home or a Smartphone -

Professors Kwanwoo Shin and Oh-sun Kwon from the Department of Chemistry at Sogang University, along with their team, have developed a paper-based digital microfluidic chip for disease diagnosis by simply connecting it to an inkjet printer at home or to a smartphone. The research results were published in Advanced Materials Technologies, an international academic journal, on March 16. Their paper was introduced on the volume’s cover.

Paper-based digital microfluidic diagnosis chips do not use an existing silicon electronic chip board but use paper and a printer to control electronic signals and provide a medical diagnosis and analysis.

Professor Shin and Kwon and their team developed the technology to power a tiny drop of fluid, such as blood, with electricity on printing paper using conductive ink that can be electrified. When an electric field flows on the wired paper-based chip, the conductive ink can be used to meticulously control the program where the mixture and reaction times of diagnosis agents were input in advance.

When using this paper-based diagnosis chip with a related smartphone app, it is possible to diagnose various diseases, including diabetes, nephritis, and brain diseases.

“We also expect that this technology will be applied to customized medical services and on-site diagnostic equipment to detect viruses and bacteria,” said Professor Shin.

A simple pattern described on the inkjet printer and the paper-based digital diagnosis chip analyzing the pattern with electrochemical sensor modules (left). Enlarged pictures of the paper-based chip diagnosing blood sugar and substance delivery in the brain and uric acid levels related to kidney functions (middle). A smartphone connected to the wireless control system (right).